MODEL Curriculum Unit
Unit (weeks):
Subject/Course:
Grade Level:
School Year:
BIG IDEA:
Unit 1: 3 Weeks
English Language Arts
9 & 10
2013-2014
What generalization or principle do you want to know/do? (at the heart of the discipline & value beyond classroom)
Common Core Standards / State Standards
Content Standards:
 CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (Analyze DOK3)
 CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature
from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. (Analyze DOK3)
 CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and
tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
(Analyze DOK3)
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CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is
shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. (Analyze DOK Level 3 Strategic Thinking & Reasoning)
CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other
characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. (Analyze DOK Level 3 Strategic Thinking & Reasoning)
CCSS.ELA.9-10.RL.5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g.,
pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. (Analyze DOK Level 3 Strategic Thinking & Reasoning)
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1 Reading Standard 1 Writing Standard 1 Mathematical Practice
CCSS.Math.Practice.MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established
results in constructing arguments. They make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore
the truth of their conjectures. They are able to analyze situations by breaking them into cases, and can recognize
and use counterexamples. They justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the
arguments of others. They reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the
context from which the data arose.
ASSESSMENTS Provide one assessment item for each content standard - include standard + (Level of Rigor)
CCS.ELA.9-10.RL.1 (Analyze DOK Level 3 Strategic Thinking & Reasoning) After Close Reading literature,
students will write Claim-Support-Evidence/Interpret paragraph(s) using citations.
Example: Students will read and apply close reading strategies to Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel.” Then
answer the following prompt for CSE write up: Analyze the symbolism in “Through the Tunnel.” First, consider the
three settings: the wild beach, the safe beach, and the tunnel. Tell what you think each setting must symbolize for
Jerry. Then consider the larger symbolic meaning of Jerry’s passage through the tunnel. What does his trip
represent? Why is it a powerful symbol? Support your analysis, and elaborate with direct references to details in
the story.
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CCS.ELA.9-10.RL.4 (Analyze DOK Level 3 Strategic Thinking & Reasoning) After Close Reading literature,
students will write Claims-Support-Evidence/Interpret Paragraph/Essay analyzing the author’s craft (literary
devices, viewpoint, or potential bias) to create or critique of a text.
Example: Students will read and apply close reading strategies to Roald Dahl’s, “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Then
answer the following prompt for CSE write up: Children, Dahl said, “…invariably pick out the most gruesome
events as the favorite parts of [my] book… They don’t relate it to life. They enjoy the fantasy. And my nastiness is
never gratuitous. It’s retribution. Beastly people must be punished.” In your opinion, what does Dahl want us to
think about Mary and the murder of her husband? How does he manage to make us react as we do?
Clarifications of Content Standard
Academic Vocabulary: What academic vocabulary does the student need to know?
Literary Elements: theme (moral, lesson, message, view or comment on life), point of view (first vs. third, limited
vs. omniscient), characterization (qualities, motives, actions, thoughts, dialogue, development, interactions),
minor and major character(s), setting (time of day or year, historical period, place, situation), plot (exposition,
conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement, antagonist and protagonist,
internal conflict (man vs. himself), external conflict (man vs. nature, man vs. society, man vs. fate, man vs.
man, man vs. God) author, Setting, tone, formal, informal, figurative language, 8 figure of speech, simile,
metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbolism, allusion, imagery, word choice, theme, connotative, denotative
Declarative Knowledge: What does the student need to KNOW?
Textual evidence, evidence, inferences, theme/central ideas, detail, text, summary, complex character, text, word
choice, develop plot and theme, motivation, figurative meaning, connotative meaning, formal and informal tone,
words and phrases, word choices, time and place, pacing, structure, events, parallel plots, flashbacks, mystery,
tension, surprise, point of views, cultural experiences, world literature
Procedural Skill: What does the student need to know HOW to DO?
Cite, support analysis, draw inferences determine, development, refine, provide, summarize, analyze, interact,
develop, determining, analyze, manipulate, evoke, analyze impact, analyze, drawing on wide reading world
literature
Prerequisites – Declarative Knowledge & Procedural Skill
UNIT Resources & Instruction
Primary text connections: List chapters, pages, etc.
Supplemental Text Connections + Other materials available (teacher resources, online, etc.)
Integration of Effective Teacher Instructional Strategies: Research-based strategies that “fit.” (HOW)
Integration of Reading standards, Writing Standards and/or Mathematics Practices (HOW)
Integration of Technology (HOW)
Exemplary Learning Activities: List one exemplary strategy per box.
Exemplary Scaffolding Strategy: List one exemplary strategy per box.
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